Colonel (Retired) Robert M.
Piper, 88, died December 16, 2007, in Daytona Beach, Florida. He was
buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia.

Colonel Piper was the sixth
Commander of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit from March 1970
to January 1972.

COL Piper was born in
Winthrop, Massachusetts. After graduating from Hebron Academy, he
attended the University of New Hampshire, where he was a member of
the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Upon graduation on June
16, 1941, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant of Infantry and was
ordered to extended active duty. He attended parachute school and he
was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which joined
the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 1943. He
went on to serve more than 30.years active duty in the Army and
served on during World War II, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

During World War II, he made
combat jumps into Sicily and Salerno, Italy, and on D-Day he jumped
into St. Mere-Eglise, a French village in Normandy behind enemy
lines, which played an important role in establishing communication
for the American liberation forces on that day. His fourth combat
jump was into Holland in September 1944, where he helped seize the
critical bridge at Nijmegen. COL Piper fought in the Battle of the
Bulge in Belgium and in Germany during the winter of 1944-45, finally
crossing the Elbe River in April, linking up with Russian forces at
Ludwigslust and the surrender of the German 21st Army Group.

He also served in a variety of
positions, including commanding the 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry in
1953-54 against Chinese and North Korean forces in South Korea and
serving as Deputy Senior Advisor, II Corps, Pleiku, Viet Nam in
1967-68. He was the Commanding Officer of the School Brigade at Fort
Benning, Georgia, prior to assuming the position as Commander of the USAMTU.

COL Piper retired in 1972 and
crisscrossed the country in his beloved Piper Cherokee airplane to
visit friend and family. He was a lifetime member of the 82nd
Airborne Association, Greater Daytona All Airborne Chapter; Halifax
Area Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America; Quiet
Birdman, Daytona Beach Hangar; United Flying Octogenarians; life
member of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Florida at
Large; and the Military Marksmanship Association at Fort Benning,
Georgia. He will be remembered as a man who loved his country, loved
to travel, and loved life.